Meant to Be
by bumbledoff
Summary: As Remus Lupin goes through hard times at Hogwarts, it seems as though Lily Evans alone seems to care. Her compassion draws her into the group of Marauders, and Lily and James get to know one another a bit better.
1. Prongs' Uneasy Night

**A.N**: this is my first fanfic! I decided I'd start off with Lily/James, as they're one of my fav couples. Enjoy, plz review smooch!

Yes yes, I don't own anything in the Potterverse, yada yada.

James Potter woke with a start.

From what he could see through the crack in his drawn hangings, the weather was sunny and fresh; he could hear no indications of others inhabiting the dormitories at that moment, so he was at ease to catch his breath from his strangely startling dream.

He'd been dreaming about the Marauder's escapades, one of which was planned for that night. Usually these adventures involved something thrilling, daring… yet still somehow innocently fun.

Once, the group put nervous little Peter Pettigrew up to sneaking into the girl's dormitory. The other three waited nervously in the common room after watching his wormy tail slither up the spiral staircase. He then emerged, ten minutes later, with only a lacy brazier as proof of his unnoticed intrusion.

Another time, Sirius Black, James' best friend, slipped a few drops of Amorentia, the most potent of all love potions, into Severus Snape's morning coffee. For the rest of the day, dear old Snivellus followed James around like a lost puppy.

This, however, had been different. James sat up in his four-poster bed and rubbed his eyes, He could see the crisp rays of morning sun peeping through the hangings.

Though the reassuring light of day eased his troubles slightly, James still couldn't help thinking, after al of those close shaves, what if finally, tonight… something goes wrong?

"_It won't_," said the part of his conscience James usually listened to. "_It hasn't yet! You four are the Masters of Mischief, the Princes of Pranks, the Kings of Chaos! You've pulled it all of before and you are going to do it again!"_

And with this final, comforting thought, James decided to head down to the Great Hall for breakfast.

On his way across the common room he saw Lily Evans emerging through the portrait hole.

"Morning, Evans!" James said brightly.

She eyed him warily.

"And just _what_ are you doing up so late?" she inquired.

"It's impossible for me to sleep when all I can think about are your beautiful green eyes."

Lily snorted.

"Honestly, Potter. You could feed a whole colony of dung-beetles with that crap," she spat, as she began to march crossly to her dormitories.

"What, you tell me to grow up so I grow up, and you still hate my guts?" he yelled furiously up the staircase at her.

"You get the general picture!" she called down sweetly.

James heard some stifled snickering behind him. He spun around and saw a group of second-year girls by the fire having a laugh at his failed attempt at love.

"It's not as easy as it looks," he said defensively, ruffling his hair as he left.

James entered the Great Hall and took a seat beside Sirius.

"Rough night last night, mate?" Sirius asked casually.

"Yeah… I guess I shouldn't eat so much before going to bed, eh?" James joked, covering up for his obvious sleep talking during the previous night.

"Well, tonight's going to be one hell of a lot better, I can assure you," said Sirius. "Pomfrey took Moony down to the Shrieking Shack this morning and the Invisibility Cloak is well hidden in our dormitories, so we're all set!" said Sirius, his eyes shining with a gleam of excitement.

"Mmhmm…" replied James uncomfortably; his thoughts flickering back to his dream.

"Listen," said Sirius, leaning forward. "We'll pull it off without a hitch, same as usual. We've done it so many times before!"

James took comfort in Sirius' remark, and also the fact that Sirius seemed to read James' mind about his problem. And with that, he piled his plate high with breakfast.

"You up for some Quidditch later, Prongs?" Sirius asked.

James forced down a mouthful of scrambled eggs.

"You know it, Padfoot," he said through a mischievous grin.

Lily flopped hopelessly onto her bed.

"_Honestly_," she thought to herself. "_The boy's almost done school and he's still at it_."

James had been chasing Lily on and off for the past five years. Now, entering their sixth year at Hogwarts, things obviously still hadn't changed. James was still as obnoxious as ever, and Lily equally repulsed. Everything about him agitated her, from his cocky tone to his ridiculous hairstyle, and her dismissive attitude seemed to intensify his quest for her affecion.

"Lils, are you up here?" called Emily Sanderson, Lily's best friend.

"Yeah, I'm here," Lily replied glumly.

"Oh no," Emily said, stopping dead in the doorway once she caught sight of Lily. "Not Potter _again_?"

"Who else…" Lily said, rolling her emerald eyes.

"Aw, come on Lils, how about we take a walk around the lake, catch up a bit? I feel like I haven't talked to you for a year! Mind you, two months is pretty close…" Emily said.

Lily laughed.

"And what about the other ten months?" she said as she threw a pillow at Emily.

"I was joking, you loon!" retorted Emily, catching the pillow. "Come on! Shoes! Now! Homework can wait!" she added, seeing Lily open her mouth to argue.

"But my Charms essay will be late," Lily grumbled, but she pulled on a light sweater nonetheless.

"That's the spirit, love," cooed Emily.

As the girls proceeded down the sweeping lawn, three Marauders were making their way towards the Quidditch pitch. James caught sight of the other pair and slowed his strides slightly. Sirius noticed this and failed to conceal the snicker that escaped his mouth.

"I don't see what is so goddamn funny!" James bellowed, stomping off in a wave of anger and embarrassment.

"What's his problem?" asked Peter nervously, startled by James' sudden outburst.

"Our friend Prongs is having a few… ah… _feminine_ problems," Sirius said with a grin, nodding towards Lily and Emily, who were now making their way around the lake.

"Oh…" replied Peter, blushing slightly.

"C'mon, Wormtail," said Sirius enthusiastically. "Let's go kick his ass."


	2. A Guilty Revenge

**Yes yes, I don't own anything in the Potterverse, yada yada...**

"Aw, come on, Lils, are you ever going to ease up on this boy?" asked Emily, upon hearing about Lily's encounter with Potter that morning. "Sounds just like he was trying to be nice for once, complimenting you and all…"

For this comment Emily earned a vicious glare from Lily.

"Well, I think you're _wrong_, Emily. I know how Potter's mind works! One second he'll be all kind and sweet, and then the next, my homework's been bewitched so that all of my "f's" and "d's" get mixed up…" Lily said darkly.

"Well that doesn't sound _that_ bad…"

"Oh yeah?" shot back Lily. "You try getting back an essay that was supposed to be about "How to Duck a Spell," see how much of a laugh it is then."

Emily laughed.

Up at the Quidditch pitch, the sound of laughter caught James' attention, and his head jerked towards the two feminine figures navigating around the lake.

"Honestly mate, if it's so distracting, go on and talk to her!" shouted Sirius exasperatedly; Sirius' perfectly good pass had been wasted because of James' short attention span.

"What's that, Padfoot?" called James, tearing his eyes away from the lake. "Oh…" he said, noticing the plummeting Quaffle.

"James. Go," said Sirius, as James resurfaced with the large red ball clutched under his arm.

James shot him a grin and tossed the ball over to Peter, who was nearest.

"Be back soon," James said with a wink, and flew off.

On the Quidditch pitch, Peter showed signs of wanting to follow James to the other pair.

"Now now, Wormtail!" said Sirius in a falsely serious voice. "Leave the canoodling with Emily until later, I say!"

Pettigrew stared after James beadily for a moment or two nonetheless.

"Let's see what other kinds of fun we can think of," said Sirius, his usual wicked grin in place.

Severus Snape was stalking across the grounds, his nose in a book.

"Leave this one to me," said Sirius, zooming down to Snape, leaving Peter to trail along in his wake.

On the other side of the lake, Emily noticed James approaching before Lily did.

"Uh oh, Evans, don't look now. Bad news, eight o'clock."

Lily spun around, a look of pure venom fixed upon her face.

"Lily! Ignore him! That way," Emily pointed out, "he'd be more prone to _go away…_"

"I'm practicing nonverbal magic, kind of like how we're supposed to be doing!" Lily snapped.

And as she said this, Emily saw Lily's hand tighten around her wand in her pocket.

"Lils, don't do it!" Emily cried. "You'll get yourself in trouble, and term's just barely started!"

"Oh rubbish, Emily, Potter's too obsessed with me to report me about anything,"

At this moment James drew level with the girls, who were still stopped and facing him.

"G'day… er… ladies," said James rather awkwardly; this immediate display of their full attention threw him off a bit.

"So, Lily dearest!" James ploughed on, recovering. "I was simply wondering, and you know this isn't the first or last time I ask, if you will do me the greatest honour…," he paused, "… of going out with me."

Lily put her vacant hand on her hip and surveyed James.

"Potter," she said sharply.

"Call me James, darling," he said smoothly.

"Whatever," she shot back. "Tell me boy, just how many times since the beginning of our… _magical_… relationship, would you say you've asked me out?"

"Well, it's hard to say, love, but I believe that amount would now be more or less… two hundred… seventy five?" he said innocently.

"Two hundred and seventy five. Right. And now answer me this," she went on. "How many times out of these two hundred and seventy five offers, have I _ever_ accepted?"

"Well, er, none…" said James sheepishly.

"And I suppose you think today's your lucky day?" she inquired.

"Well, it depends!" said James, growing impatient.

"On _what?_" she said, clearly enjoying his frustration.

"On if _you_ decided if it was time to lighten up a bit!" he shot at her, but he immediately regretted doing so.

"Lightened up a bit, eh?" she said as her green eyes widened dangerously. "Well, if you consider lightening up pulling ridiculous pranks and goofing off all the time for your friends, then you can count me OUT!"

And with her final bellowed word, she whipped out her wand and silently summoned the most horrific Bat Bogey Hex that she could muster.

For Lily, the sight of James zooming off in a panic with flapping mucous covering his whole head was worth the guilt she felt at rejecting Potter's alleged "two hundred and seventy fifth" attempt at asking her out.

Lilyastonished herself for feeling anything except resentment towards Potter. Yet, there it was, a great lump of guilt, weighing down in her stomach like a small slab of metal.

Lily was surprised that night, that after checking and re-checking her homework, it was immaculately written. She unexpectedly found that none of her food was bewitched to taste like dragon brains or rat droppings. She was furthermore shocked to find just before bed, that her appearance was unaltered, not so much as a freckle seemed misshapen, discolored, or misplaced. Indeed, it seemed as though James Potter had resisted retaliation.

Her guilt worsened at this discomforting thought.


	3. Nearly Fatal

**Yes yes, I don't own anything in the Potterverse, yada yada...**

James Potter, however, had other things on his mind that night.

Him and Sirius stole out of the castle beneath James' Invisibility Cloak, with Wormtail the rat leading them down the corridors.

They emerged, unnoticed, from the towering front doors and did their best to keep up with Wormtail, who was already halfway down to the Whomping Willow. As they approached, they saw the heaving mass of branches and leaves freeze, as though caught in time. The two boys scrambled into the entrance before removing the Cloak and stowing their bags in a corner.

Slightly sweaty and out of breath from their hurried and uncomfortable journey, they set off at a jog down the tunnel, not even checking the Marauders map to ensure they hadn't been followed.

Meanwhile, a hunching, sneaky-looking figure squeezed itself from the front doors and hurried down to the Willow, and as the tree began to flail furiously, the figure picked up a branch and pressed a knot in the trunk. The tree froze, just as the figure had been informed it would, and then he dropped into the tunnel and followed it, completely unaware as to what surprises lay ahead.

Severus Snape followed the tunnel and eventually slowed down to a sneaking crouch, until an incredibly bizarre scene met his eyes.

For the boarded up room did not reveal four teenage boys, as he had expected, but two creatures he took a moment to recognize.

The nearest to Severus was a great, handsome stag, whose admirable antlers would have been ideal for brewing many potions.

The second creature, Snape realized with a jolt, was no Animagus like the other, but a werewolf, fully grown and transformed.

It seemed that at the very moment Snape noticed the werewolf and began to panic and back away, the werewolf realized he was there. Directing his long, pointy nose towards the doorway, he gave a sniff and smelled fear emanating from the entrance. The werewolf gave an ear-splitting, bone-chilling howl. The stag caught on; it poked its head into the cave, and saw Snape standing there, white-faced and shaking.

Severus heard a crash and two more creatures came scampering in: a grey rat and a huge, shaggy, black dog. All four caught sight of Severus.

The werewolf lunged for him, but the stag got there just in time; it caught the creature in its antlers and threwit across the room.

Severus watched, to his amazement, as the stag morphed into James Potter, who turned to Snape and yelled, "RUN!" before returning to his stag form.

Snape didn't need telling twice. He started up the tunnel faster than a broomstick, emerged from the Willow (which he promptly Immobilized), and sprinted up to the castle, not daring to look back.


	4. The Morning After

**Yes yes, I don't own anything in the Potterverse, yada yada...**

"D'you think he knew it was us?" said Peter in his nervous squeak.

"Of course he did, genius here showed his face to the little git," Sirius said, jerking his head at James.

"Well why the hell did you tell him to go, then?" James snapped back.

Sirius shrugged. "For a laugh."

At that moment Snape entered the Hall and seated himself at the Slytherin table.

"For a _laugh_?" James asked incredulously. "A _laugh_? Padfoot, we could have gotten expelled!"

"Or Snape could've died," said Peter, though his comment went unnoticed as a disturbance from the Slytherin table caught their attention

The four marauders watched in disbelief as Snape recounted loudly to the rest of his house, and any others willing to listen (so in other words, everybody), his encounter with Lupin the Werewolf, which he twisted and exaggerated to the point where his story barely had a shred of truth to it.

The crowd listened carefully, whilethe students threw looks of fright at Remus. Then, all eyes on him, he silently removed himself from Gryffindor table and hurried out of the Hall.

The Slytherin table erupted with jeers and laughter as he passed.

Once the other three hastily finished eating, they decided to check for Remus in the common-room… surely he would be hiding out there…

But Remus was nowhere to be found. James asked some third years if they had seen Remus Lupin, but they shook their heads with looks of fear and disgust on their faces.

"News spreads fast," said Sirius quietly.

Just then, Lily burst through the portrait hole, looking angry and worried.

"Lily! How wonderful to see y—"

"Can it, Potter," she snapped. "I just want to know what's wrong with Remus, he hurried out of the Great Hall today at breakfast and I've been trying to find him…"

Sirius surveyed Lily, deciding if she could be trusted.

"Evans," he said suddenly, reaching a decision. "Can we trust you?"

"Of course!" cried Lily, her eyes widening with curiosity.

"Alright, well, Moony, er, Remus, is a… well, he's…"

"A werewolf?" she asked helpfully.

"Wh-yeah! How did—"

"Guessed. So that's why he's off every month…"

"Right," James interjected. "Well, he's a werewolf and last night Snape saw him, and well… you know Snape."

Lily listened to this with a look of horror upon her face.

"What if he'd been bitten!" gasped Lily.

"I'd rather not think about it.A slimy git _and _a werewolf... a crime against nature, I'd say," replied James.

"Listen," said Sirius. "I think that right now, Moony wants to be alone."

"Alone?" said Lily. "Do you really think that he wants to feel desertetd by everyone, even his own friends?"

"Listen, Lily," said James. "Imagine how he feels! Would you really want to feel that guilt, that _shame_, around people? How fond of the human race would you be just then, eh?"

Lily bit her lip.

"I just… don't want him to feel alone… that's all..."

She made to go through the portrait hole.

"Evans, hang on… where are you going?" asked James.

"To find Remus!" replied Lily.

And, ignoring Sirius' and James' protests, she turned on her heel and marched out of the common room.

"What's she playing at…" wondered James.

"Honestly, don't you think his best friends would know him a little better than her?" said Sirius, shaking his head.


	5. A Confusing Sunday

**Yes yes, I don't own anything in the Potterverse, yada yada...**

Lily marched through the castle, her brain repeating the task at hand: _I need to find Remus._

She was prowling the fifth floor for thet third time when she noticed a door she seemed to have missed. Glancing around, she recognized one of her favorite landmarks: a tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy,and his sad attemptto train trolls for the ballet. Lily smiled slightly at the ridiculous sight before she strode to the door and turned the golden handle.

Lily peered into a room she had never seen before. A barred window cast longstrips of moonlight across the room, which was small and bare. There was only one inhabitant sitting in the corner, whom she recognized at once.

"Remus?" she whispered.

"Yes?" he said remorsefully.

"I… I heard about what happened."

"And?"

"Well… I just… you mustn't hide like this! It's not your fault you are the way you are, don't be ashamed!"

"Ashamed? Lily, how can't I be ashamed? I'm a _werewolf_," he said, his voice cracking at the last word. "And I almost bit a student! Frankly, I'm amazed that the fact that I'm a werewolf remained secret for this long…"

"Well, I just… don't want you to feel like… like nobody cares about you. Your friends care."

"Yes, my friends care, but they don't understand. They've never been tainted by something so evil… and horrific…"

"Well, I just wanted to make sure you knew… and also… I'm here if you ever need me, too," she finished awkwardly.

She waited for him to reply, but none came. And, taking this as a hint, she began to make her way to the doorway.

Just as her hand reached the doorknob, she heard Remus sniff.

"Thank you, Lily."

She looked over her shoulder and smiled at Remus.

"I'll just let you get back to… brooding."

"No, wait," he said, drying off his face. "I'll come with you."

The sight of Lily and Remus emerging cheerfully from the portrait hole brought feelings of shock to James, Sirius, and Peter.

"Check out who I found," said Lily proudly, ignoring the looks that she was getting from her fellow Gryffindors.

"Moony, old pal!" cried Sirius, clapping his hands together. "Glad to see you're back!"

"Thank you, Sirius, but I think I'd best be off to bed," said Remus, and he made his way up to the boy's dormitories.

James, Lily, Peter and Sirius watched him go. Sirius looked around at the group.

"Wormtail! I'm a touch on the drowsy side," said Sirius, and added a fake and exaggerated yawn. "What d'you say we turn in, eh?"

"Well, I…" started Peter.

"Come on, you look tired."

Peter caught Sirius' drift at last.

"Oh!" he said, looking from James to Lily and back again. Finally, he got up and went to the dormitories with Sirius.

James turned to Lily and opened his mouth to speak, but Lily cut across him.

"Potter… James. I owe you an apology."

He looked at her, confused.

"You see," she continued, "yesterday, at the lake, I thought it was just you, being a bloody idiot…as usual."

"Thanks…" said James.

"Right, well, it's just that all day and night I expected some kind if revenge from you, to get back at me… for the hex I put on you.

"Oh, yeah…"

"But none came, not one all day, and I just thought… maybe…"

"You would go out with me?" he asked hopefully.

"No, James. How about we just… start over? Just as friends?"

James thought for a moment.

While he would much rather have Lily as his steady girlfriend, "just friends" was a huge improvement from "arch-enemy."

"Anything for you, Evans," he said with a grin.


	6. Animagi

A. N: Hey guys! Sry for the slight delay, I've been busy lately. And I had a bout of writers block, but I'm better now! anyways, thank you reviewers, I'm still trying to figure out how this whole website thingy works. anyways! Enjoy!

**Yes yes, I don't own anything in the Potterverse, yada yada.**

The next day, Lily awoke feeling pleasantly well rested.

"Morning!" she called to Emily, who had just pulled back her hangings. She blinked sleepily at Lily.

"Lily… you're showered and dressed, and it's only…" she checked her clock, "seven thirty! What's up with you?"

"Monday, Emily," Lily said with a smile, and opened the dormitory door.

"But you hate Monday!" Emily called after her.

As Lily entered the common room, she spotted Remus sitting by the fire, doing some homework.

"Good morning, Lily," he said as she sat down next to him.

"Hey… do you want to go down and grab some breakfast?" she asked.

"No thank you, I've already eaten. James and Sirius are in the Great Hall, I believe. Perhaps you would like to join them instead?"

"Maybe I'll just… wait for Emily to get ready…"

They sat in silence for a few moments.

"So how did you find that essay that Slughorn set us?" she asked.

"Brutal. You?"

"Well, I found it quite easy, myself."

"Ah, well we all know how much he loves his little Lily Evans," Remus joked.

"Now now! What's that supposed to mean?" she asked playfully.

"Come on, we all know you're his favorite, even if you are in Gryffindor."

"Yeah, I guess. I'm a crap potion brewer compared to Snape, though."

"Snivellus? He botches every potion he brews because of him dripping grease into it."

Lily wrinkled her nose in distaste. She could never like Snape if she could help it, but at the same time he had never really made a deliberate attempt to permanently harm her.

"Well then he'll just have to deal with it then," she said. "Hey maybe I'll head down to the Great Hall after all, I'm famished."

But just as she made to get up, Sirius and James burst through the portrait hole.

"Evans!" Sirius called.

"How do you do?" James asked her, doing an extremely fake imitation of a gentleman.

Lily rolled her eyes and smiled. "Quite well, and yourself?"

"Not too shabby," he said, ignoring the look Sirius shot at Remus. James had, of course, told them all about his and Lily's conversation the previous night.

"Hungry, Evans?" Sirius asked.

"Yeah, we nicked some food for Moony here," said James.

"_Really_," said Lily. "I thought you already ate!"

"Yes, well, it's really best for me to stay away from people for awhile… just until it… dies down," said Remus.

Lily looked at him sympathetically.

Sensing this, Remus said, "And I don't need your sympathy! It wont help things one bit."

She averted her gaze and accepted a piece of toast from Sirius.

"Hey Lily, you ready for that Transfiguration test tomorrow?" asked James.

"I'm not too sure," she replied, munching on her toast. "I'm having trouble shrinking body parts, I can't always get my hand the right size on the first try."

"Really?" James said, raising his eyebrows. "How about I help you out in our free period, just before lunch?"

"Charms. How about this evening, after supper?" Lily ignored the fact that he had apparently memorized her timetable.

"Brilliant," he said, smiling. "I'd best be off, Quidditch trials to organize for tomorrow."

"So, Lily," said Sirius in a businesslike tone. "Care for a little jaunt before classes begin?"

"Erm…"

"Excellent, we'll be back soon, Moony," said Sirius.

"Right," said Remus, too busy concentrating to look up.

Neither of them said anything for a moment after they exited the common room.

"Moony…" said Lily, thinking.

"What d'you think it means?" said Sirius, with a smile that simply said _I know something that you don't!_

"Well, it's obviously because he's a werewolf," said Lily. "But the others… Wormtail… Padfoot… Prongs. Rat, dog, and… something with antlers, I'm assuming?"

"Yeah, a stag."

"But… why? Are they shapes of your Patronuses?"

"Good guess," said Sirius. "But a werewolf is what Moony _turns into_, not the form that his Patronus takes."

"You don't mean…"

"Yep."

Lily looked at him incredulously. "But… why... how... _when_?"

"Last year. That way we can be around him and not worry about being attacked. Werewolves only crave human blood."

"Sirius, that's… that's unbelievable!"

"Oh yeah?" said Sirius. He looked around the deserted hall, turned into a dog and back again, and shot a grin at Lily's amazed face.

"Do you have any idea how illegal that is?" she asked frantically.

"Of course. But we pulled it off, over and done, no biggie." He smiled at the petrified look on her face.

"I should have known you four were up to something stupid like this! So that's where you're off to every month?"

"Yes ma'am. But you have to understand; we did this for our friend who needed us! Our becoming Animagi wasn't for attention or anything, it was so that our good friend Moony didn't have to go through such horrors alone."

Lily considered this. "I guess you've got a point."

"It's just that the whole story doesn't really make sense without knowing this. Where do we go each month? How did Snape see James while he was in the Shrieking Shack?"

"Right. So why are you telling me this?"

"Well, it's just, we like you. We trust you. Of course, we consider you one of our good friends, even if you have planted a decent hex on us now and then," he said with a smile. "So now that you know, you're one of us. Sort of."

"What do you mean, _sort of_? I _did_ get Remus back to you guys all by myself, didn't I?"

"Well, yes, but you're not quite an Animagus."

"Oh, right. Well, I guess this is good enough then!" Lily wasn't too intent on becoming an Animagus; she shuddered to even think about the horrors that could happen if the process went wrong.

A bell sounded in the distance.

"Transfiguration," said Lily. "If only McGonagall knew about this, she'd probably worship you."

"I wish," said Sirius, and they headed off to class.


End file.
